Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #336

Background

Doctor Octopus is re-forming the Sinister Six for a mysterious scheme he's
planning. So far he's recruited Electro, Sandman, Hobgoblin, and Mysterio.

MJ's director was mysteriously injured on the set of her soap opera, after he
yelled at her. The Police suspect Jonathan Caesar, the psychotic who is
romantically fixated on her, and kidnapped her before.

Aunt May's fiancee, Nathan Lubensky, is dying from a weak heart. He recently
acquired a lot of cash thru unknown means. What he intends to do with the cash
is still a mystery. But Peter intends to find out what.

The story opens with the Vulture soaring thru the air, carrying a dummy in his
hands. He smashes the dummy to pieces in front of the Kingpin, and several of
his associates. It seems the Vulture has been hired by the Kingpin to
eliminate a certain Raymond Trask, who is being uncooperative with the Kingpin
regarding some business matters.
One of the Kingpin's associates, Mr Grouper, is unsure whether the Vulture is
the right man for the job. And since he has bet his last dime on this hit, he
intends to get a little "insurance", just in case something goes wrong.

Peter heads over to Aunt May's house, so he can question Nathan about the
money he mysteriously acquired. As Peter gets Nathan alone, he gets Nathan to
confess where he got it, saying he found out about the money thru his
connections as a photographer.
Nathan tells Peter that he cashed in his life insurance. Peter is shocked, as
Nathan has a terminal heart condition. Nathan tells Peter that he should
forget all about it if he really cares about his Aunt.

At a Manhattan penthouse, Mr Grouper visits a Mr Nick Powell, also known as a
gun for hire named Chance. He doesn't charge for his services, but rather bets
them against his success. Grouper offers him ten percent of a million dollars,
if he backs up the Trask hit. Powell gladly accepts.

Nathan tells May that he can't stand the waiting. Not knowing when he'll die.
May tries to console him by saying he'll be around for a long time. Though she
clearly doesn't believe it, as she sheds tears in sorrow.
When May leaves the room, Nathan phones bookmaker to check on the odds for a
bet he's placed. It's a bet on the Trask hit. Nathan feels guilty for betting
on the death of another human being, but he sees it as the only quick way to
leave a nest egg for May when he's gone.

MJ kisses Peter goodbye, as he heads out on a photo assignment to
photograph the christening of Raymond Trask's new yacht "Trask Duchess". At
the docks, where the christening is taking place, May is pushing Nathan in a
wheelchair. She wishes she'd never brought him, but Nathan insists on staying.
Peter senses a source of great power nearby, but sees nothing. Up above,
Doctor Strange hovers in his astral form. He watches briefly as people mass to
view a man who they honour for his possessions. He then leaves as it is of no
interest to him.
Raymond Trask appears on stage, and Peter begins snapping pics. Suddenly
several grenades hit the stage and explode. The Vulture swoops in, tossing
more grenades. Peter ducks out from the fleeing crowd, to change into Spider-
Man.

The Vulture uses his whirlwing gust to take out Trask's guards, and then is
about to grab Trask himself, when Spidey webs his hand and swings in for the
attack. The Vulture takes off into the air, with Spider-Man in tow. Spider-Man
creates a little slack on the webline, and then swings up above the Vulture,
and then dives back down again, causing enough momentum to knock the Vulture
down into the pavement.
Suddenly, more shots are fired at the stage. Chance has arrived, and
immediately opens fire at Spider-Man with his wrist blasters. Spider-Man tries
webbing up the blasters, but Chance easily melts the webbing off. Spider-Man
then webs up Chance's helmet, obscuring his vision. This sends Chance crashing
into a water tower. He decides to fly straight up as the best means to escape,
since he cannot see.

Meanwhile, the Vulture has recovered, and decides to grab Aunt May as a
hostage so Spider-Man won't try to stop him. As he grabs May, Nathan grips the
Vulture, and tells him to let May go. The Vulture releases May, and takes off
in flight with Nathan still hanging on. Nathan panics when he sees how high up
in the air he is, and lets go of the Vulture, as he begins to fall. Spider-Man
snags his foot with webbing, just before Nathan hit the ground.
Dozens of Police choppers begin to converge on the area. The Vulture finds
himself surrounded. Suddenly an air ship arrives above him, as a voice asks if
he needs a lift. It is Doctor Octopus, who tells the Vulture that he's been
looking for him, and after hearing about this Trask business, he took
advantage of it. The Vulture gladly accepts a lift off Doc Ock, as the police
helicopters get closer. As Ock's air ship speeds off, Spider-Man recognizes it
as the same one Ock used when he rescued Electro.

Down below, May holds Nathan in her arms. He chokes out his last words about
how he failed her and has left her with nothing. But May sobs and says he's
given her everything. Nathan then dies in May's arms.

General Comments

The high points of this issue were the scenes between May and Nathan. May
loses another man she loves, and it was hard not to feel her pain as she held
the dying Nathan in her arms. I was especially touched at how May told him
that he'd given her everything.

Great to see the Vulture return, as ruthless as ever. It's good to see his
talents being recognized by the higher members of organized crime, like the
Kingpin, who cited that Vulture had been his personal choice for the Trask
assassination.
Chance didn't seem like a particularly interesting character. He was just
another assassin with fancy guns and a colourful costume. I can't say he
impressed me much.

And finally there is Doc Ock, who makes a very brief appearance in this issue.
But he's recruited his final member of the Sinister Six. So, in the next issue
the sparks should start flying, and I'm looking forward to it.

Overall Rating

A well written issue, but not as exciting as the first two parts to this
story. As I said, the scenes with May and Nathan are the highlights of the
issue.